Bond(01)

The moment I stood in front of the door there was an overbearing pressure that made me feel like running away, but I was aware my father was testing me. I'm sure he's had low expectations of me so I must prove him wrong.

I took a deep breath and then opened the door, to the office room that had neatly organized sheets and decorations of ferocious monsters that had been slayed throughout the room. In the middle of the room stood a man with long black hair, and yellow bright eyes. One of the 5 sword gods, Duke Julien Ven-August.

"Rei, Come have a seat."

I swallowed the saliva in my throat and sat down.

"You're excused, Gale."

Gale shut the door and left. A few seconds later the pressure lightened and my father had a somewhat bitter smile on his face.

"My son Rei as you know tomorrow is the summoning, you should already know this but our family tends to get contracts with star hounds ever since the founder saved them from extinction."

Not everyone is qualified to have a Bond, an event known as "the summoning" takes place in the forest of spirits. All the monsters there have intelligence, and usually form contracts with Humans deemed necessary. The mana in the air is the force between their connection, and the mana in the forest gives monsters an almost omniscient view of the forest each person attends in the ritual if a monster takes a liking to them they will form a bond with said person. The final criterion for a Bond is being a pure-blooded Human.

My father soon spoke up, " Rei... You will not form a bond with a star hound. You will not be able to bond with any Monster. But, you will attend the ritual and take part in it... It will be of benefit to you."

"Father, are you saying I'm not talented enough?"

He let out a small laugh and looked me in the eyes as if I said a funny joke.

"You won't get any bonds because you're a stronger monster than any monster there, you will find out more later."

'Guess he doesn't want to hurt my feelings, though It's strange he would consider me untalented.'

He then stood up and walked towards a closed case behind him, he then opened it revealing a sword wrapped in bandages.

"This was your mother's signature weapon, she asked me to give it to you around this time."

I looked at him skeptically for a few moments then thought 'My mother was a commoner though I'm grateful for the sword though this seems a bit overdone?'

My father then unwrapped the sword revealing sword with a handle that seemed to be made out of a strange rock with a long blade that had a luminescent purple glow.

"Father..."

I almost gasped in surprise, my eyes widened and I felt dizzy.

'The sword I made in my past life... How is it here? The strange energy I feel from it, there's no mistake this was once mine'

My father then quickly coughed twice to get my attention

"It's quite a strange blade, but the strange feeling that it gives off is otherworldly. And the design is unlike nothing I've ever seen, but nothing changes the fact it's the strongest blade I've ever encountered."

My father then looked at me with serious eyes then said, "It may even be stronger than the Central Empires Excalibur, a blade that only the hero destined to fight the demon king can use."

Confusing and excitement clashed in my mind, though the God I met could have been behind this which was likely considering I obtained it shortly after gaining the memories of Zenith. I decided to just assume at this point, " Thank you father, I will treasure this sword and honor my mother by using it."

'Perhaps I'll be able to make a stronger one in this life with time, or maybe I can improve this current sword, after all, It's legacy of Zenith... At some point, I stopped referring to myself as Zenith, he seemed like a distant friend of the past. This sword truly is a treasure I will admit, I formed it using nothing but aura, and my aura was stronger enough to destroy celestial bodies without me even touching them. I won't be able to use the sword to its true potential as I don't possess aura, which is why one day I can build onto it with mana and change the constitution of the sword.'

"Rei continue working hard, when you turn 20 years old you will leave the mansion to gain experience, once you experience the world you will truly blossom. I cannot wait to see what kind of talent my son will have in the future."

This made sense, a few months ago the Hero was revealed to be a commoner from the Central Empire, and the Demon King won't sit still, when the Hero was born he was sealed away for thousands of years, nobody knows why the Demon King was unkillable. Nobody knows the strange mystery behind the legend of heroes, the past hero Arthur Pendragon after sealing the demon king and creating a kingdom sealed his sword and lived as a king, though a few hundred years later he was struck by a powerful curse, which destroyed his Mana Heart and he soon died of old age. Before dying Arthur told everyone another Hero would be the one that can unseal his sword, it became a tradition for children, nobles, and commoners alike to attempt to pull the sword from its resting place.

"You may leave, prepare for tomorrow. Tomorrow may change your future."

********

Walking into class I sat down in my seat. Most of the class wasn't here today, which was kind of natural after all Bonds aren't something everyone can get.

Towards the back of the class, two boys sat beside each other, Keith Sevrub and Malik Vale two nobles who had found pleasure in humiliating Rei.

"Malik, look likes that fodder showed up today."

"Seems like it, even though it seems like he's toned out his body a bit trash will always be trash."

Keith laughed a bit

"I bet I could beat him without even lifting my finger, and what's up with that shoddy sword?"

Malik scoffed and added

"Commoner runs through his blood, let's not judge him."

Suddenly the professor raised her voice, Ariana Lenra our professor who was new to teaching and relatively young was excited about the opportunity. Rei, Keith, and Malik 2 other students showed up, including Tulver Sunvel and Ysabelle Keirn.

Ariana stretched her hands out, she was preparing for this for a while this year's main events were coming up, first the summoning, then the tournament, and finally the cross banquet. Since the threat of demons was high humans had somehow worked out how to live in peace for the last 40 years, at a result, every human civilization tended to do events together such as the summoning since few people from each school would show up only around a hundred or so students showed up so using warp gates all first years in their respective schools would attend.

Ariana smiled looking at the class and cheerfully explained the procedures we will go through to get there, and how the ritual works.

"Oh yeah and I almost forgot to mention, since you guys are in the same year as the Hero you will probably meet her. The empire is bringing their students today as well so it's a high chance she will attend, in fact, I can guarantee it.

Ariana raised her hand and pointed towards the ceiling, her beautiful red hair and red hairs glistened," Let's aim to have the strongest grade bonds, after all, whoever contracts the highest grade bond was promised a meeting with the emperor, as well as our king."

*******

As we were walking into the warp gate one by one I couldn't help but be excited, despite the words my father told me, I was certain I was qualified.

'This will be interesting

A smile spread across my face as I walked into the warp gate.

Instantly I appeared in a large forest, ahead of me was a bright magic circle, and all around me to my left and right were students stepping out of a gate, look to my left I saw a girl. She had black short hair, and dark grey eyes, very similar to my own self... Her beauty made me drool, but I had more self-control so I snapped out of it.

'What a beauty, I'm not one to court ladies but if I could I would... Wait it couldn't be

It was then I saw the Heroes sword Excalibur on her back, it was a sword with a golden handle leading to a guard that resembled a cross, and a long silver blade.

********

I stepped out of the warp gate, and looking at the scenery was about what I expected a foreign beautiful forest and students all around. I looked left and saw people conversing, and when I looked right I was immediately met with a face staring at me from the warp gate right beside the one I used. He was quite handsome, but I had my fill with the prideful nobles trying to court me, So I gave him a cold look and he seemed to have noticed and looked away.